2022 Beijing Day 5: Medal ceremony

Day 5 of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing was marked by a pleasant event for Belarusian fans. The winners and medalists of the previous day were honored at the Zhangjiakou Medals Plaza in the evening of 9 February. It was nice to see Anton Smolski from Belarus among the awardees. On 8 February he won silver in the Men’s 20 km Individual.

For the native of Kopyl District it is the first medal of the Olympic Games. Earlier, biathletes Alexei Aidarov (1998) and Sergey Novikov (2010) won Olympic medals for Belarus.

“In the morning today I understood that it was not a dream, that it really happened yesterday. I fell asleep very quickly and got a good night's sleep. Today, I had a brief training session and came here. Now I have the medal. This medal is very heavy, in all senses. I am extremely happy to hold it in my hands, and understand that it is mine,” Anton Smolski said.

Yanqing hosted medal events in Alpine skiing. For Belarusian Maria Shkanova this is the fourth Olympiad and this time she finished 20^th, her personal best in the slalom.

"I did well, event great! I showed my best result. Of course, I was excited before today’s competition, though I felt this war all the days that we trained. The snow here is specific, very peculiar and difficult to get used to. Apparently, I have adapted to it, so I am satisfied with my performance,” said the Olympian from Belarus.

Maria Shkanova thanked the NOC of Belarus, the Sport and Tourism Ministry, the Аlpine Skiing and Snowboard Federation, the National Winter Olympic Training Center Raubichi for the support during this Olympic season, and in previous ones. "I want to thank my coach, parents, friends ... Thank you very much for your support. Greetings to Belarus!" Maria Shkanova said.

The men’s ice hockey tournament, one of the most popular competitions at the Winter Olympics, has kicked off in Beijing. Russia (2018 Olympic Games champion) beat Switzerland 1-0. The team coached by Alexei Zhamnov and Sergei Fedorov, a student of the Minsk Youth Sports School Yunost, are yet to take on Denmark and the Czech Republic in the preliminary round.

Press service of the NOC of Belarus

Photo by NOC of Belarus and Belarus Ski Union